Pennsylvania Meditation Center

Resident Monk

Venerable Chandrawansa

Pennsylvania Meditation Center, located in Crystal Spring, Fulton County, Pennsylvania, USA, was established as a meditation center in 2016 under the guidance of most Venerable Harispattuwe Mangala Nayaka Thera, director of Sri Saranatha Darma Vidyapeeta Maha Pirivana, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Pennsylvania Meditation Center is a Theravada Buddhist organization incorporated in 2004 as International Buddhist Society of Pennsylvania. We welcome all who are interested in meditation or Buddhism.

The focus of Buddhism is to examine our own mind. Buddhism is a way of life based on training the mind to recognize and eradicate unwholesome thoughts such as those arising from craving, hatred, and delusion, and to encourage virtuous qualities, such as compassion, loving kindness, altruism, and equanimity. Its ultimate aim is to show the way to complete liberation from suffering by the attainment of the Unconditioned, a state beyond the range of the normal untrained mind. Its immediate aim is to show the way to peace and continuing happiness by striking at the roots of anxiety and suffering in everyday life.

Buddhist teachings explain in detail methods for becoming virtuous, peaceful and resilient. The techniques include mindfulness and meditation. The meditation we teach here is Vipassana, which was taught by the Buddha and which has been practiced by many over the centuries in many parts of the world. It leads to realization of ultimate truth, based on Satipattana, the foundation of mindfulness. We start with mindfulness of the body, and progress to mindfulness of sensation, awareness of mind and mindfulness of Dhamma.